The Quran

Preface

وَقالَ موسىٰ رَبَّنا إِنَّكَ آتَيتَ فِرعَونَ وَمَلَأَهُ زينَةً وَأَموالًا فِي الحَياةِ الدُّنيا رَبَّنا لِيُضِلّوا عَن سَبيلِكَ ۖ رَبَّنَا اطمِس عَلىٰ أَموالِهِم وَاشدُد عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم فَلا يُؤمِنوا حَتّىٰ يَرَوُا العَذابَ الأَليمَ

Yusuf Ali

Moses prayed: “Our Lord! Thou hast indeed bestowed on Pharaoh and his chiefs splendour and wealth in the life¹ of the present, and so, Our Lord, they mislead (men) from Thy Path. Deface our Lord, the features of their wealth,² and send hardness to their hearts, so they will not believe until they see the grievous penalty.”

Moses’s prayer, in which Aaron joined, for he was always with him, may be paraphrased thus: “O God! we understand that the glitter and the wealth of the Egyptians are not to be envied. They are but the ephemeral goods of this life. They are a disadvantage, in that in their pride of possessions the Egyptians mislead themselves and others. Let their pride be their undoing! Turn their wealth into bitterness and their hearts into hardness, for they reject Thee, and they will not believe until they actually see the Punishment of their sins!”
A terrible curse! Let their wealth and splendour become so defaced in their features, that instead of being objects of desire, they become objects of loathing! The heart is the seat of affections and joy: let it be so hardened by their unbelief that it becomes the seat of hatred and grief! It is when they see the Penalty that they will believe!